“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
[New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society]
The Great Commission is our ministry; the Great Commandments are our message. More than our message, these commandments define who we are—passionate lovers of God and sacrificial servants of others. Just as we do not get to vote on our mission, neither do we get to invent the message. Neither of these is a choice—they are both commands, commands from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church of God reformation movement will understand that this goal—engaging everyone in the Great Commandments—means living our personal and corporate lives in such a way that all come to see the Christ we serve and adore. If we are to be embodiments of the Message, then we must learn a clearer more biblical view of the One we serve. What does it mean to be the embodiment of this Message: to be like Christ, which means we must learn the heart of God. Living Great Commandment love in the Spirit of Jesus means discovering this Jesus: The welcoming (accepting) Jesus of Luke 19:5; the encouraging Jesus of Luke 22:32; the compassionate (weeping) Jesus of John 11:35; the embracing Jesus of Matthew 19:15; the lovingly confrontive Jesus of John 18:11; and the grace-filled Jesus of Luke 15.